What Every Christian Can Practice in Order to Impact the Culture of Today
Author and philosopher Paul Gould has written a number of successful books, and his latest work, The Outrageous Idea of the Missional Professor, is both an excellent examination of what it means to be a Christian academic, as well as a helpful resource for those who are looking to deepen their faith and impact their surroundings.In the book, he explains that professors and teachers hold a valuable position of influence over their students and contemporaries, and urges them to view themselves more like missionaries in order to transform their particular disciplines.
Gould’s advice stretches further than just academia, however. The Outrageous Idea of the Missional Professor offers insight to all Christians hoping to utilize roles in our society to transform culture. But in order to change our surroundings we sometimes have to change ourselves first.
Gould asks readers to reflect on the complex process of “cultivating the Christian mind,” a technique which can be employed by all believers, which involves what Gould calls the seven intellectual virtues: courage, carefulness, tenacity, fair-mindedness, curiosity, honesty, and humility.
Intellectually speaking, each of these virtues offers us different abilities so that we can fight against the secular tide to change culture for Christ: courage allows one to challenge the worldly status quo; carefulness helps one challenge his or her own views and opinions; tenacity aids in continually pursuing the meaning of one’s belief; fair-mindedness gives one the ability to reach others easily by earnestly considering their positions; curiosity lends itself to broadening intellectual horizons; and honesty and humility both allow for a willingness to admit the limits of individual knowledge.
As we move closer to being the people that Christ calls us to be, Gould would hope that our lives increasingly reflect these all-important attributes. Together, these seven intellectual virtues could help each of us to make a difference in our spheres of influence. By allowing ourselves to be transformed by Christ, we open ourselves to be used by God to transform culture.
Information for this article came from Connection Points.
